Supreme Court Says You Can’t Fight Racism with Racism

/in , , , , , , , /by

“Eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it.” That was the conclusion of the majority in the Supreme Court case Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. The court concluded that it violates the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection under the law for colleges and universities to consider a student’s race in their admissions process.

For many, this is common sense. Earlier in our battle against racism, the Supreme Court clarified that segregated schools were illegal because “separate but equal” was not actually equal. In doing so, the court established that it is inappropriate to reward and punish people based on the color of their skin. But more recently, some have decided it’s not merely acceptable to treat people differently based on the color of their skin, it’s good provided we do so for the right reasons.

That’s one of the reasons why, in recent years, colleges of been creating “safe spaces” where white students are not allowed. It is also the reason a Colorado elementary school hosted a “Families of Color Playground Night” and put it on the sign in front of their school. They weren’t ashamed to be engaging in racial discrimination, they were proud of it because they were doing it for the right reasons. They were protecting racial minorities, not harming them. Similar sentiments motivate those who want to use race as a determining factor in the college admissions process. They don’t believe racial discrimination is always bad, it’s only bad if it’s done for the wrong reason.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor voiced her belief that race-based evaluations are constitutional if done for the right reasons. “The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment enshrines a guarantee of racial equality” she said. “The Court long ago concluded that this guarantee can be enforced through race-conscious means in a society that is not, and has never been, colorblind.”

Good intentions aside, there are unavoidable problems with the effort to rebrand racial discrimination as “race-consciousness” because anytime the law favors one group on account of their race, they necessarily disfavor other groups because of their race. This was illustrated in Harvard’s own admissions data. While the goal was to help Hispanic and black students gain opportunities they otherwise might not have, the result was that Asian students were required to score, on average, 22 points higher than white students and 63 points higher than black students in order to be admitted. Creating opportunities for one group means handicapping another.

Obviously, that’s not fair, but you’re also not supposed to care that it’s not fair.

The Left has divided the world into “oppressors” and “oppressed,” and often those categories are defined by our skin color. The bad kind of racism punishes those who they see as “oppressed” and should be stopped. The good kind of racism punishes those they see as “oppressors” and should be tolerated or even celebrated as a race-conscious effort to “level the playing field.”

You don’t need to be concerned that the poor Vietnamese kid from a broken home and better test scores was rejected for a black kid with billionaire parents, because the individual circumstances of their lives matter less than the identity politics we’re all supposed to be focused on. This is Critical Race Theory 101, and this is the world the political Left wants us all to live in. But the Supreme Court just said you can’t do that. “Eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it.”

It has never made sense that we would be able to solve the problem of racism with more racism, but the Supreme Court just went a step further and clarified that fighting racism with racism isn’t just a bad idea, it’s also illegal.

AUTHOR

Joseph Backholm

Joseph Backholm is Senior Fellow for Biblical Worldview and Strategic Engagement at Family Research Council.

EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2023 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

Protests at Moms for Liberty Summit Fueled by SPLC ‘Hate Map’

/in , , , , , , , , /by

Moms from across the country have gathered in Philadelphia this weekend for a jam packed Moms for Liberty Joyful Warriors National Summit. The event will be headlined by former President Donald Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R), and other political luminaries — but the real stars are the moms in attendance.

They are the moms who chaperone school field trips and wait with and for kids at the school bus stop. They are the moms who volunteer to run school fundraisers, wipe down lunch tables, tie shoes, read stories, and drive carpool. They are the moms who object to dirty and divisive books in the school library. They are the moms who donate backpacks full of food for the kids who might not get a good meal at home over the weekend. They are the moms you know from your neighborhood, your church, and your school.

They are the moms Southern Poverty Law Center put on their “Hate Map” this year, putting a target on the backs of all moms across the country.

They are the moms who endure being threatened by government officials who demanded that the Museum of the American Revolution kick moms out of the venue. Naturally, Young Communist League, ACT UP Philly, and other radicals heard the dog whistle and sprang into action.

Moms for Liberty attendees must walk through a gauntlet of threats and vile chants just to gather in fellowship at a national summit. This is the real reason for their inclusion on SPLC’s Hate Map. This designation is a signal to radical activists to target their fellow Americans. And don’t forget the SPLC’s radical protest insurance policy: Learning for Justice. Just in case the Hate Map is not enough, SPLC seeks to infiltrate schools across the country with polarizing radical sexual and social justice messages in an attempt to warp the minds of the nation’s children. Moms at the Joyful Warriors Summit are onto them, and insist: we don’t co-parent with the government or progressive political groups.

The rights to speak, to gather, and to protest are basic rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. Polarized politics in America today means citizens don’t protest the government’s abuse of our rights as often as we protest our fellow citizens. This kind of division is dangerous when it is based on hate fueled by groups like SPLC and the shock troops they activate. I mean, what national parents conference is complete without protestors tearing up a Bible?

When we see social media posts about this event, they are likely to capture the antics of protestors outside or the much-admired speakers addressing the summit. But I want to make sure you hear from the moms who are there to be together in solidarity. Because at this event, as in life, the moms making things happen in your corner of the world are not necessarily the ones in front of the camera.

A great example of this is my friend Amy Snead, the Moms for Liberty chapter chair from Bedford, Virginia. She shared pictures and described the energy. “The interactions inside this building are joyful and positive. People are networking, getting to know each other, and there is a lot of excitement. There is a unified effort among people who believe the United States is the greatest country in the world and want to work to maintain that. We are laser focused on our mission to defend parental rights at all levels of government. This is truly a nationwide movement with moms leading the charge.”

Meanwhile, outside, there is blaring music and Bible shredding — to “defend democracy.”

California mom Kelly Schenkoske, a presenter at the conference, said, “Being at the Moms for Liberty conference is an honor and an encouragement. I have met wonderful people who care about families and children. What an honor to meet people from all over the country who, despite the hostility they face, continue to stand and lovingly speak up for the protection of children and teens. Outside the conference, I was met with screaming and hostility. These individuals do not know us, and they do not know me. But I was taught to love them and so … despite their words, I have nothing but compassion for the protestors. I am grateful that we live in a nation where we get to speak freely. They have a right to protest, and we have a right to gather and speak as well. What a beautiful gift it is to have freedom.”

Rhode Island mom and Education Center Fellow Nicole Solas shared this: “Don’t be fooled by the woke mob raging outside the Moms For Liberty Summit 2023. Inside the Moms For Liberty Summit the atmosphere is rejuvenating. Mothers like myself eagerly share our stories about advocating for our children’s education and the retaliation that invariably followed. We offer advice and support, laughs and hugs. We don’t all know each other but we know we are all fighting the same war on children and that makes us the same. We stand bravely in front of bright lights and cameras knowing the media will spin our straightforward words into a web of lies. We sit somberly in breakout rooms learning the horrific extent to which our children are sexualized by comprehensive sex education, dehumanized by racialized curriculum, and propagandized to hate America. And then we brainstorm ways to collaborate and defend the liberty of our children and our country. At the end of the day, the hate mob outside is just noise. Inside the summit, we hear very clearly what we have to do, and we remain steadfast.”

America owes a debt of gratitude to Moms for Liberty founders Tiffany Justice and Tina Descovich and they moms they lead. We pray for your safety, the success of this event, and the continued faith-filled work of the Moms for Liberty convening this weekend in Philadelphia. Next week moms will be back at work in our schools, churches, and neighborhoods, doing the things moms do best, with love, faith, and determination.

AUTHOR

Meg Kilgannon

Meg Kilgannon is Senior Fellow for Education Studies at Family Research Council.

RELATED ARTICLES:

Supreme Court Strikes Down Student Loan Forgiveness Scheme

Supreme Court Issues Landmark Religious Liberty Ruling

Congressman: Biden Is ‘Hijacking’ AIDS Relief Program to Push Abortion on Africa

RELATED VIDEO: Donald J. Trump Speaks At Moms For Liberty summit in Philadelphia | US News

EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2023 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

The Corporate Diversity Industry Is Finally Getting The Hint That People Are Sick Of Them

/in , , , , , , , , /by

Support for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) measures in companies is on the decline, The Wall Street Journal reported.

DEI is on a downward trend in corporate America, with many workers saying they are apathetic about a diverse workplace, according to the WSJ. The debate over DEI efforts in the workplace has been brewing since before the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that colleges and universities cannot use race-based admission standards.

“There are people who say, ‘I really wish we were more diverse,’ and I’ve also seen people say, ‘Stop being so woke,’” Sarah Sharp, a vice president of human resources at Clayton, a home builder based out of Tennessee, told the WSJ.

Only 32% of workers believed that working at an ethnically diverse place was “very important” to them, while 38% said it was “not too/not at all important,” according to a Pew Research Center survey. The same poll found that 26% of workers find an “equal mix of men and women” to be “very important” in the workplace, while 44% said it is not.

The attitude from companies towards DEI funding is also changing, according to the WSJ. A Gallup survey of 140 human resource chiefs revealed that 59% plan to increase their DEI budgets in the next year, while 84% had responded they would in 2022.

Jonathan McBride, who is in charge of DEI at Heidrick & Struggles, a recruiting firm, is concerned about the impact the Supreme Court ruling on race-based admissions in higher education could have on companies, according to the WSJ.

“If you say this about college admission, what about hiring?” McBride told the outlet.

Some companies have faced backlash for their efforts to cater to the LGBTQ community.

Bud Light sales dropped 31% since mid-May after the company partnered with Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender social media influencer, in April. Target and Kohl’s brands took a hit over LGBTQ merchandise in June, with Target losing $15 billion in market cap value and Kohl’s losing 20% of its share price.

Heidrick & Struggles and Clayton did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

AUTHOR

WILL KESSLER

Contributor.

RELATED ARTICLES:

These Supreme Court Decisions Are A Grand Slam For Donald Trump

Pentagon Can Expect Legal Challenges To Race-Based Admissions Policies After Supreme Court Ruling, Experts Say

Dem Sen. Chris Murphy Says ‘We Cannot Avoid’ The Biological ‘Differences’ Between Men And Women

How the Words of a Doomed Submersible’s CEO Reflect the Infiltration of DEI in Key U.S. Institutions

Supreme Court Says You Can’t Fight Racism with Racism

‘Attention Wh*re’: Fed Up Joe Rogan Goes Zero Filter Slamming Dylan Mulvaney

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Wanted: A New Birth of Freedom

/in , , , , , /by

John M. Grondelski: The ethic of radical freedom says Adam’s and Eve’s “disobedience” was a free choice and, therefore, it’s God, not they, who sinned, punishing them for choosing freely.  But this is neither Judaism nor Christianity.

For most Americans, the Fourth of July is a celebration of American “freedom.”  Freedom is an iconic word for us.  It’s also a foundational principle for Judaism and Christianity.  But the political/philosophical and the theological meanings of the term are growing ever more equivocal.  Perhaps of even greater concern, the average Christian or Jew doesn’t realize what’s happening or what’s at stake.

Is freedom an end or a means?

For many people, the former is problematic.  The Judeo-Christian message is that God created us for the good, ultimately for the Summum Bonum, the Highest Good, i.e., God.  Thomist philosophy identified the “ends” of the intellect as truth and of the will as “good.”  When a person chooses to do something, he chooses to do what he regards as good.  He may be mistaken, but human action always operates under the attraction of the “good.”

The very structure of language reveals this in-built bias: “Why did you choose A over B?”  “Because A was better.”  We understand why “better” justifies the choice.  Someone who answered that he chose what was “worse” would raise the question, “Then why did you choose it?”

If the end of human action is the good, and not freedom, this also suggests some objective order of good and value that exists independently of the individual actor, towards which one has obligations to “do good and avoid evil.”  The person does not stand neutrally before good and evil as equally legitimate choices, of equal weight on the moral scale.  Man has a built-in, healthy orientation towards the good.

What, then, in the Judeo-Christian tradition, is freedom for?  That question is actually quite acute because, in recognizing freedom as a means rather than an end, it recognizes freedom has a further goal.  It’s for something.  It’s for the good.

Human action has two effects: it does things in the world and shapes me.  Taking my neighbor’s property without his consent does two things. It’s stealing and it shapes me: it makes me a thief.  Moral action has both objective and subjective effects.

God gave us freedom as part of His image and likeness so that not only would things get done, but so that people would share in the goodness of what is done.  Freedom is sine qua non to man as a moral being.

But this concept also entails the understanding that freedom put in the service of evil is not freedom.  Such a use of freedom is self-destructive, eventually simply enslaving the doer and those he affects.  Rather than expanding freedom, it destroys it.

The modern apotheosis of false freedom, treating freedom per se rather than good as the end of human action, denies all this.  If such a notion even acknowledges the good (as opposed to “my good” and “your good”), any such good ultimately collapses into freedom itself: freedom is the good.

But, shorn of a further referent, there’s no basis on which to judge freedom: what was chosen is self-referentially “good.”  There’s no “good” or “evil” out there to be chosen: the act of choosing itself defines good and evil.

This ethic has been most prominent in the debate over abortion and, more broadly, sexual ethics, largely because people have vested interests in the outcomes and the unborn don’t vote.  Its implausibility as an ethical system is far more glaring in other areas, like property rights and “important things.”  On life issues, the jury’s still out, depending on the convenience to be gained if a handicapped newborn or senile senior loses those things Jefferson quaintly styled “inalienable rights.”

To this ethic of radical freedom, Adam’s and Eve’s “disobedience” was a free choice to reject external constraints.  In that perspective, it’s God, not they, who sinned, punishing them for choosing freely.  This is neither Judaism nor Christianity.

This is why so many find Catholic former Supreme Court justice Anthony Kennedy’s “mystery of life” passage in Planned Parenthood v. Casey simultaneously so ludicrous and so monstrous:  “At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept. . .of meaning, of the universe, and the mystery of human life.”

If we all self-defined meaning, Babel would look like a mere translator’s conference compared with the ensuing madhouse.  It’s doubtful that many folk try to self-define the universe. . .or that the universe cares about the ravings of those who do.  As for self-defining the mystery of human life, 60 million-plus infants slaughtered since Roe demonstrate the truth of Thomas Hobbes’ insight about unadulterated freedom: homo homini lupus. (“Man is a wolf to man.”) And so is a woman.

And yet the “freedom ethic” goes on, perhaps because the “dictatorship of relativism” balks at calling anything unequivocally good.

When I visited Central Europe in the early 1990s, just after the fall of the Iron Curtain, I argued that the local churches needed to undertake a catechesis of freedom.  Many had successfully spent decades teaching people how to survive under slavery.  But those people were unprepared for the moral challenges of freedom, especially because the freedom the West was selling was most often untethered to any objective good.  “Liberal democratic freedom” traded on people’s aspirations for real freedom but gave them Esau’s mess of pottage for Jacob’s birthright.

What happened in Central Europe since has become a pan-Occidental crisis of freedom.  We use the old word while wondering why modern “freedom” doesn’t fill us up, why it’s more like junk food empty of nutrition. Politicians trade on “defending freedom” in ways our forebearers would have recognized as degeneracy.

To promote religious liberty, the American bishops used to mark a “Fortnight for Freedom” just before Independence Day.  It’s shrunk to “Religious Freedom Week.”  We’re just three years away from the Semiquincentennial of the United States, the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Perhaps what we really need as we approach that landmark is a multi-year International Freedom Revival.

You may also enjoy:

Robert Royal’s Liberty, License, Gratitude

Elizabeth A. Mitchell’s For Such a Time as This

AUTHOR

John M. Grondelski

John Grondelski (Ph.D., Fordham) is a former associate dean of the School of Theology, Seton Hall University, South Orange, New Jersey. All views herein are exclusively his.

EDITORS NOTE: This Catholic Thing column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. © 2023 The Catholic Thing. All rights reserved. For reprint rights, write to: info@frinstitute.org. The Catholic Thing is a forum for intelligent Catholic commentary. Opinions expressed by writers are solely their own.

Watch President Trump’s Plan to Protect Children from ‘Left-Wing Gender Insanity’

/in , , , , , , , , , , /by

As the reported that, “Biden’s Health Department is being weaponized to promote homosexuality and the transgender agenda. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra launched the department’s ‘Pride Summit’ on Monday, June 26th, 2023, stressing the importance of normalizing the LGBT agenda. He quipped, ‘Supporting the LGBTQI+ community is a top priority for me and HHS. Equity runs at the heart of every initiative we take on here.’”

Equity is code for child abuse using chemical and physical mutilation of underaged children.

President Donald J. Trump on June 30th announced a comprehensive nationwide plan to stop Biden’s “Gender Insanity.”

Tom Perkins in a Guardian article reported on the City Council of Hamtramck, Michigan that, “passed legislation banning Pride flags from being flown on city property that had – like many others being flown around the country – been intended to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community. Muslim residents packing city hall erupted in cheers after the council’s unanimous vote, and on Hamtramck’s social media pages, the taunting has been relentless: ‘Fagless City’, read one post, emphasized with emojis of a bicep flexing. In a tense monologue before the vote, Councilmember Mohammed Hassan shouted his justification at LGBTQ+ supporters: ‘I’m working for the people, what the majority of the people like.’”

Is it time to make America Fagless again?

©2023. Dr. Rich Swier. All rights reserved.

ELATED ARTICLES:

Republicans Gut Biden’s Trans Extremism in Woke-Crushing Military Bill

UN Expert Argues Religious Beliefs Must Change to Accommodate LGBT Ideology

Rep. Mark Green to Introduce Bill Combatting ‘HHS Weaponization’ of Title X

BlackRock Abandons Term ‘ESG,’ Rebrands Due to Red State Boycott

U.S. Dept. of Education rolling out deceitful plan to shut down removal of obscene books from schools

California GOP Secretly Plots To Amend Bylaws Pertaining To CA Presidential Delegation Process In An Effort To Undermine Donald Trump’s 2024 Re-Election

D.E.I. Curricula versus Catholic Education

/in , , , , , , , /by

David G. Bonagura, Jr.: If Catholic schools want to end racism, they don’t need more diverse authors and perspectives. They need more theology faithful to the Magisterium – this is the essence of Catholic education.

Afriend – a professor at a leading Catholic university – was one of only two members of the faculty senate not to vote for adopting anti-racist measures to shape the school’s curriculum. The senate consists of thirty-two members.

These overwhelming numbers showcase the trend that has enveloped many Catholic universities and schools: promoting D.E.I. (diversity, equity, inclusion) and its more aggressive counterpart, anti-racism, have become the overarching goal of academic curricula.

In their most benign forms, D.E.I. curricula seek to introduce students to “diverse perspectives” by means of being “more inclusive” of “diverse authors.” “Diverse” and “inclusive” sound harmless, but are code words for authors who are racial or sexual minorities. Their perspectives are taught to increase empathy for these groups and, in some cases, to point students toward political action to benefit them, not only in secular politics but the Church.

The more contentious anti-racism pedagogy, as clearly explained, for example, in this frightening video from another leading Catholic university, “seeks to acknowledge and confront: The fundamentally racist underpinnings of our society and educational systems.” The narrator continues:

The necessary starting place in our thoughtful use of anti-racist pedagogy is a deep appreciation for how racism and white supremacy have informed and built all components of our social lives. From there we can turn to reckoning with this reality through deliberate action to dismantle racism in our institution and our classrooms.

As if these declarations have not wandered far enough afield from the essence of Catholic education, the video includes a slide: “Jesuit Values necessitate Anti-Racist Pedagogy.” (Emphasis in original.)

In truth, neither the thinly veiled political posturing of anti-racist pedagogy nor the gentler D.E.I. curricula that promote racial and sexual diversity measure up to Catholic curricula steeped in the liberal arts. In fact, if we wish to end racism – an authentic goal that all Catholics should support – the best way to do that is through traditional Catholic education.

For a liberal arts education to be effective, its overarching goal has to be transcendent rather than temporal. “Ending racism” or “promoting diversity” are temporal goals that reduce liberal arts education to vocational training, as in the teaching of a trade such as accounting or plumbing. Of course, trades have their place for individuals so inclined. But as ends in themselves, temporal goals for education close students off to the “big picture” that the liberal arts exist to convey.

Temporally driven curricula have another limitation: they turn teachers and students into naval gazers who subject the wisdom of the past – including revelation and Church teaching – to the Inquisitors of the Present who confirm their superiority by pronouncing anathema any former idea or practice in conflict with current orthodoxies. This approach not only eschews intellectual humility for a narcissistic Presentism, but, with the speed at which intellectual fashions change, sets students up to be rudderless in an ever-shifting world. As the saying goes, “He who marries the Zeitgeist (the spirit of the age) is soon to become a widow.”

So lessons and books on temporal topics of any kind are not, and cannot be, ends in themselves. They are most effective when they are set within a broader, transcendent vision of God, Creation, and truth. Catholic education exists to convey this vision.

One of Vatican II’s most famous sentences declares that everything temporal takes its starting point and end from Christ, the eternal Word: “The Lord is the goal of human history, the focal point of the longings of history and of civilization, the center of the human race, the joy of every heart and the answer to all its yearnings.” (Gaudium et Spes 45) Catholic school curricula, therefore, also take shape from Christ. If we desire peace and justice, then our curricula and programming must be shaped by, and lead students to, the Prince of Peace who “loved justice and hated wickedness.” (Hebrews 1:9)

Whether we teach science, mathematics, history, languages, or literature, the particulars of each should have one eye on God from whom all these things come. Particular lessons on, say, World War I or botany can highlight the destructive nature of pride or the wonder of God’s creation. They should not be used to contradict Catholic teachings, as a determinist historicism or atheistic theory of evolution would.

The same goes for teaching about racism and the experiences of minority groups. These have their place along with other topics and should be chosen because they emanate from the Church’s teachings on God and the human person. Books should not be read merely because an author is a racial minority; students are keen to notice this and will belittle the book if they perceive it is being forced on them for ideological reasons.

Obviously, books should not contain graphic sexual content, and an author’s minority status cannot justify including such material in courses, especially secondary school courses – Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye and Beloved are the two most frequently chosen offenders here.

Lastly, Catholic curricula should never showcase authors who try to normalize abnormal sexual desires, such as James Baldwin, Alice Walker, and George M. Johnson. Catholic schools must present God’s plan for human sexuality while both identifying aberrations as sinful and teaching charity toward all those who struggle with irregular sexual desires.

If Catholic schools want to end racism and incorporate students of all backgrounds into their communities, they don’t need more diverse authors and perspectives. They need more theology faithful to the Magisterium, more sacramental opportunities, more prayer, more grace – this is the essence of Catholic education. For it is only Christ, and not any human creation or program, that can make all things new.

You may also enjoy:

Francis J. Beckwith’s The Diversity Paradox

+James V. Schall, S.J.’s Diversity

AUTHOR

David G Bonagura, Jr.

David G. Bonagura Jr. an adjunct professor at St. Joseph’s Seminary, New York. He is the author of Steadfast in Faith: Catholicism and the Challenges of Secularism and Staying with the Catholic Church: Trusting God’s Plan of Salvation.

RELATED TWEET:

EDITORS NOTE: This Catholic Thing column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. © 2023 The Catholic Thing. All rights reserved. For reprint rights, write to: info@frinstitute.org. The Catholic Thing is a forum for intelligent Catholic commentary. Opinions expressed by writers are solely their own.

WARNING GRAPHIC: Scenes From ‘Apocalyptic’ War Torn France

/in , , , , , , , , , , /by

Mayor of Paris Vincent Jeanbrun and his family escape assassination attempt.

Muslim and left-wing rioters continued to rampage cities and town and attack police. Violent riots continue to spiral out of control in Paris suburbs: They targeted a mayor’s home with a burning car as France saw a fifth night of unrest sparked by the police killing of career criminal.

France: ‘It’s one thing to read about it, another to see it with your own eyes’

BY 

I arrived in Paris yesterday and traveled to a city in the south of France. It’s one thing to read about it, another to see it with your own eyes. I walked through the streets of that southern city today. Shops destroyed, emptied of all contents: Swarovski, Orange, Apple stores. Most stores now boarded up. Will they dare to open on Monday? I don’t know. So far, 100 million euros of damage has been estimated; the amount is bound to rise.

An attempt to burn down the house of a mayor in the north; he happened to be at his office, but his wife and two small children were inside and escaped — just barely — with their lives.

About 50,000 extra police now on the streets. The Macron government still refuses to declare a state of emergency as politicians to his right have demanded.  Macron condemned the policeman — a much decorated officer, with several medals for bravery — as guilty of an “inexplicable” and “unforgivable” act.  As far the policeman is concerned, there is no presumption of innocence.

More to come soon.

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller

RELATED ARTICLES:

It Begins: France to Shut Down Internet in “Certain” Neighborhoods to Prevent Use of Social Media to Organize Violence

France Has Fallen: 17-year-old “Victim” was Gangbanger with 15-Count Rap Sheet and History of Running Police Stops

FRANCE IS BURNING: The Leftist-Islamic Alliance Makes Its Move In France

France: Muslim Rioters Threaten Jews with New Holocaust

RELATED TWEETS:

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

The Science of Censorship: AI Censorship Models and Elon Musk’s Counter Move

/in , , , , , , , , , , /by

Elon Musk has applied temporary reading limits to clamp down on “extreme levels” of data scraping and system manipulation.  In a tweet, he outlined that verified accounts have been limited to reading 6,000 posts a day, while unverified accounts can read 600 a day. Newly unverified Twitter accounts will only be able to read 300 posts each day. In a subsequent tweet, he wrote: “Rate limits increasing soon to 8000 for verified, 800 for unverified & 400 for new unverified.”

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO said Twitter had imposed the “temporary limit” to “address extreme levels of data scraping & system manipulation”.

The disninformationists, free speech opponents and media propagandists are decrying Elon Musk’s new rate limit policy as some sort of censorship (laughable coming the worst oppressors of free speech). But from the lens of the censorship industry Elon Musk is actually “preserving the openness of the internet by preventing the construction of this censorship Deathstar that is getting more and more refined every day and it’s being funded by your tax dollars to the tune of tens of millions from DARPA and the National Science Foundation to say nothing about the State Department and USAID and National Endowment for Democracy grants…’

You could not censor the internet just a few years back at the scale you can now because we now have AI censorship models. It all relies on massive scraping of Twitter date in order build these models and data bases to track trending narratives to systematically surveil to track and turn down all at once communities online. Mass censorship on an unimaginable scale

Mike Bentz Executive Director, Foundation for Freedom Online and former State Department cyber explains, “Elon Musk has no idea the DARPA rattlesnake he just stepped on by this doing this…”

Twitter applies temporary reading limits to limit data scraping, Elon Musk says

Twitter owner Elon Musk has announced he has imposed a number of new restrictions on those who make use of the social media website

Twitter has applied temporary reading limits to clamp down on “extreme levels” of data scraping and system manipulation, Elon Musk said.

In a tweet, he outlined that verified accounts have been limited to reading 6,000 posts a day, while unverified accounts can read 600 a day.

Newly unverified Twitter accounts will only be able to read 300 posts each day.

In a subsequent tweet, he wrote: “Rate limits increasing soon to 8000 for verified, 800 for unverified & 400 for new unverified.”

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO said Twitter had imposed the “temporary limit” to “address extreme levels of data scraping & system manipulation”.

In the UK, a peak of 5,126 people complained of problems accessing the site at 4.12pm on Saturday, according to the website Downdetector – which tracks online outages.

Read more.

Watch this.

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

France: 719 arrests, rioters ram burning car into mayor’s home, injuring his wife and children

/in , , , , , , , , /by

France has brought this upon itself, and it will by no means be the only country in the West where it happens.

Police make 719 arrests as France burns for a fifth night: Rioters ram mayor’s home with a burning car ‘in assassination attempt’ that left his wife and children injured as protests sparked by police ‘execution’ of boy, 17, escalate

by Natasha Anderson, Daily Mail, July 2, 2023:

Rioters rammed a burning car into the home of a mayor of a town outside Paris, injuring his wife and child in what he has branded as an ‘assassination attempt’.

The attack in the early house of Sunday on Vincent Jeanbrun’s home in the Paris suburb of L’Hay-les-Roses came as 719 people were arrested in France following widespread rioting.

Mayor Vincent Jeanbrun wrote on Twitter that protesters had ‘rammed a car’ into his home before ‘setting a fire’ while his family slept. Following the attack, he vowed to ‘not back down’ and said his ‘determination to protect and serve the Republic is greater than ever’.

It was the fifth consecutive night of disturbances since the death of Nahel Merzouk, 17, who was allegedly ‘executed’ by police during a traffic stop.

Merzouk’s death on Tuesday has spawned anger across the country. He was laid to rest Saturday in a Muslim ceremony in his hometown of Nanterre, a Paris suburb where emotion over his loss remains raw.

The fast-spreading chaos is posing a new challenge to President Emmanuel Macron’s leadership and exposing deep-seated discontent in low-income neighbourhoods over discrimination and lack of opportunity.

Mr Jeanbrun said his wife and one of his children were injured in the ram-raid, which he believed was attempted murder.

He said: ‘Last night, a milestone was reached in horror and ignominy. My home was attacked and my family was the victim of an assassination attempt.

‘At 1:30 a.m., while I was at the town hall, as for the past three nights, individuals launched a car at my home before setting it on fire, so as to set fire to my house, in which my wife was sleeping and my two young children.

‘All of this was skillfully orchestrated, without consideration for the lives inside the house.’…

Read more.

AUTHOR

ROBERT SPENCER

RELATED ARTICLES:

France: ‘It’s one thing to read about it, another to see it with your own eyes’

Germany: Muslims screaming ‘Allahu akbar’ attack Jewish visitors to Holocaust memorial

Islamic scholar: ‘The Jews are not the enemies of the Palestinians alone,’ but ‘of humanity as a whole’

India: Muslim Instagram influencer calls on Muslims to smash the skulls of those who are anti-Islam

Netherlands: Muslim father and daughter send over $5,450,000 to Hamas

EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

World Arsonist: The Islamic Republic of Iran

/in , , , , , , , , /by

Iranians are the proud spiritual descendants of King Cyrus the Great, the author of the first Charter of Human Rights. Some of Cyrus’ children live in a patch of land called Iran. The overwhelming majority—free humans with human beliefs—live in every country, city, and village on the earth. These worldwide people, one and all, irrespective of nationality, color, or creed, are Iranians because they all adhere to the Cyrus Charter; they practice and defend its lofty tenets; and transfer this precious humanity’s treasure to the next generation.

Islamic invasion

Fact. Muhammad died and did not leave a written will (he was illiterate, that’s understandable). So, his high-ranking disciples began scheming for leadership. The Shi’as claim that Muhammad verbally indicated that Ali was to lead his Ummah. Well, 90% of the Muslims say he did not, and the Caliphate system was the way to go.
Fact. Shortly after Muhammad’s death, Ali was killed by some disgruntled Muslim for whatever reason. Violence was part and parcel of Islam from the word go.

Then there was a battle between Yazid’s forces and Hussein. Wasn’t there? Hussein and his band of relatives-followers got butchered. Well, friends, that’s the nature of the beast called war.

To this day, Shia’s bloody themselves, their children, and even their babies with self-flagellation in a horrid way in “aza dari” (mourning) for what happened to Hussein. What good does this do other than perpetuate a sense of defeatism and fanaticism that mitigates against Iranians freeing themselves from the yoke of the conniving mullahs?

The long-suffering Iranian people must put the past behind them and use their excellent talents to join and lead the advanced world. What a shame to remain stuck in this horrid mentality of victimization. Iranians deserve better than being manipulated by many mullahs who have been having a great ride on the back of the ignorant poor.

Forget the afterlife and pay attention to the plight of the suffering masses. Stop playing politics with the lives of the people. Those responsible for this sham have no heart and no shame. Let the bygones be bygones and use the tremendous human potential of Iranians to provide them with opportunities to better themselves and their families.

In most other lands conquered by Islam, the conquered peoples have lost their own identity and heritage and embraced the ways of their new rulers under an “Arab” identity. Conversely, in Iran, a band of indigenous victims, “infected” by Islam, have mindlessly turned on their Iranian countrymen and tried to rob them of their remaining ancient heritage. It is precisely this savage minority that has established an oppressive, tyrannical rule and wields power against the Iranian people. Yet, even under the rule of the Mullahs, most Iranians of various ethnicities and religions remain faithful to their ancient creed – a creed given to the world by Zoroaster.

The most crucial step in the direction of emancipation of our people is establishing the rule of law — not barbaric sharia — to grant all Iranians, male and female, young and old, of all beliefs equal rights.

We, the Persians, have no dog in this long-dead Islamic fight. Let’s look forward and do something about the sorry plight of our people today so that future generations recall this generation of Iranians as trailblazers who dared to break from the tragic past and launch a bright future.

As far as Western Civilization is concerned, they have been appeasing these packs of wolves. Appeasement inevitably emboldens aggressors. The wanton Islamic Republic of Iran has been on a murder and mayhem path for decades, encouraged by an appeasing world.

Just a few reminders. The murderous villains took the life of several thousand Americans during the Iraq conflict without being punished for it. Not long ago, they downed an American drone in international air space without even getting a slap on their long blood-stained wrist.

Then, they started piracy in the Persian Gulf. Nothing happened. The murdering arsonists are on an ever-escalating path of death and destruction to achieve their deadly objective of ruling the region and destroying Israel.

Looking the other way and appeasing aggression will inevitably bring about more significant pain. When the aggressor is even provided with a hundred and fifty billion dollars, as Obama did, it is no surprise that the empowered Mullahs are continuing their rampage.

Continue appeasing? Wait until they get their bloody hands on their long-cherished ultimate weapon. To state an overused cliché: keep kicking the can down the road, as both George Bush and Obama did, and let someone else worry about it.

Well, that someone else now is Mr. Biden. Will he follow suit or do the painful thing his predecessors had eschewed? We already know the answer…

©2023. Amil Imani. All rights reserved.

AWED BALANCED MEDIA NEWS: We cover COVID to Climate, as well as Energy to Elections.

/in , , , , , , , , , , /by

Welcome! We cover COVID to Climate, as well as Energy to Elections.

Here is the link for this issue, so please share it on social media.

Bookmark or make Favorite the 2023, 2022, 2021 & 2020 Newsletter Archives.

Particularly note the ***asterisked*** items below…

— This Newsletter’s Articles, by Topic —

If You Only Have Time to Read a Few Select Articles:

*** Largest drop ever: Math scores see biggest plunge in 50 years of records

*** America’s Catholic schools defied the sobering trends regarding learning loss

*** George Will: K-12 education’s alarming decline could be a dominant 2024 issue

*** K-12: The War against Children

*** The Indoctrination of the American Mind

*** Sweden Dumps Climate Agenda, Scraps Green Energy Targets

*** How to answer loaded climate questions

*** Wrong Again: James Hansen 1988 Senate Testimony Edition

*** UN Chief claims fossil fuels are ‘incompatible with human survival’

*** New Book (Dr. Judith Curry): Climate Uncertainty and Risk

*** As usual, the media’s knee-jerk take on the Canadian wildfires was all wrong

*** Exposure to Smoke from Fires

*** Sweden Shocks Europe: Abandons ‘Unstable’ Green Energy Agenda, Returns to Nuclear Power

*** Fueling a Freer Future: Three good short energy videos

*** Replacing Coal Power with Wind and Solar Increases Net CO2 Emissions

*** The Energy Transition Isn’t

*** Wind costs will remain high

*** Why Big Oil loves the renewable energy industry

*** Offshore Wind Electrical Substations; The Secret, Silent Killers

*** Italy Returns to Nuclear Sanity. Shouldn’t We?

*** NASA shelves electric aircraft experiment

*** Flood at the Border Sinks Biden

*** America Loves Winning!

*** China’s Saboteurs Are Coming to America

*** Is the Tide Beginning to Turn? Reclaiming of our sanity around sex and gender

*** RFK Jr.: Saying I’m anti-vaccine is ‘way of silencing me’

*** The World Economy is Becoming Unglued; Models Miss Real-World Behavior

*** Jordan Peterson & James Lindsay Just Exposed the Global Elite’s Agenda

*** Science leadership has forgotten … science

*** Minding the Sciences — In Defense of Merit: Is it too late?

*** Critically Thinking about Artificial Intelligence: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

*** Lawsuit: Open AI Stole ‘Massive Amounts of Personal Data’ to Train ChatGPT

Higher Education Related:

*** SCOTUS Rules on Student Debt Relief Plan (Biden v. Nebraska)

*** Medical Education Is Infected with DEI

*** The Decline (and Fall?) of College

Supreme Court Bans Racial Preferences in College Admissions

Fewer racial minorities in college will help racial minorities

Chapel Hill’s Latest DEI Push

Secondary Education Related:

*** Report: The Key to Fixing the US Education System

*** George Will: K-12 education’s alarming decline could be a dominant 2024 issue

*** K-12: The War against Children

*** The Indoctrination of the American Mind

*** Largest drop ever: Math scores see biggest plunge in 50 years of records

*** America’s Catholic schools defied the sobering trends regarding learning loss

Ohio moms react to school reporting them to FBI after exposing critical race theory

Support K-12 Education Reform

Suddenly, School Choice: Its Rapid Post-Pandemic Expansion Sets Up a Big Pass/Fail Test for Education

Greed Energy Economics:

*** Time to accept that wind turbine costs are not falling

*** Wind costs will remain high

*** Still Waiting for the Magical Future of Free Wind Power

Siemens Energy shares plunge more than 37% as wind turbine worries deepen

Renewable Corporate Welfare for Renewables Keeps On A-Coming

Unreliables (General):

*** Replacing Coal Power with Wind and Solar Increases Net CO2 Emissions

*** Why Big Oil loves the renewable energy industry

*** The Energy Transition Isn’t

How Co-ops are Impacted by Threats to Reliability

Alberta wind power production fell to 0.4% capacity at same time solar was zero

Aussie Farmers Reject Massive Wind & Solar Transmission Grid Rollout

Europe’s Crisis:  Blame Green Energy Policy

Wind Energy — Offshore:

*** Is Dominion’s Offshore Wind Project ‘Arbitrary and Capricious’? NOAA Says Yes!

*** Offshore Wind Electrical Substations; The Secret, Silent Killers

*** Offshore wind only delivers about one tenth of jobs promised

*** Whales Die, While Officials, Media, and Environmentalists Lie

*** Biden admin under fire for offshore wind impacts on military operations

Federal Agency Agrees to GOA Probe of Offshore Wind Impacts

Commissioners approve hiring additional law firms to fight turbines off NJ coast

Survey Says: Most Local Taxpayers Don’t Like Current Offshore Wind Plan

Offshore wind foes in New Jersey gathering force legally and politically

Big decisions looming on offshore wind

Wind Energy — Other:

*** Taking the Wind Out of Climate Change (referencing 60± studies)

Years after saving the bald eagle, 82 of them could be killed in NY wind projects

USGS Map of US wind turbines

Solar Energy:

Solar industry facing bankruptcies, leaving many with roof panels that don’t work

Five Reasons New Yorkers Should Not Embrace a Solar Energy Future

Solar panels destroyed by hail in Nebraska

Solar sprawl is tearing up the Mojave Desert. Is there a better way?

Let Them Eat Solar Panels

Nuclear Energy:

*** Sweden Shocks Europe: Abandons ‘Unstable’ Green Energy Agenda, Returns to Nuclear Power

*** Italy Returns to Nuclear Sanity. Shouldn’t We?

Coalition urges Senate to oppose renomination of NRC commissioner Baran

Energy Future Unveiled! THORIUM Molten Salt Reactors

NYS passing a bill to ban the release of wastewater from the Indian Point nuclear plant into the Hudson

Dow Chemical CEO Gives Wall Street Lesson on New Nuclear

Study: Thresholds for radiation induced mutation? The Muller-Evans debate: A turning point for cancer risk assessment

Fossil Fuel Energy:

*** Fueling a Freer Future: Three good short videos

*** Alex Epstein: My fireside chat at Fossil Fueled, the Concert

*** The IEA’s ‘Net Zero’ Roadmap Analyzed

EPA Proposes New Carbon Pollution Standards for Fossil Fuel-Fired Power Plants to supposedly “Tackle the Climate Crisis and Protect Public Health”

Shell defies climate critics to ramp up fossil fuel production

Israel’s natural gas saved the economy over $87 billion in past decade

Report: Renewables growth did not dent fossil fuel dominance in 2022

The tide may finally be turning against the demented drivel of Just Stop Oil fanatics

Norway Approves More Than $18 Billion of Oil and Gas Projects

Electric Vehicles (EVs):

*** NASA shelves electric aircraft experiment

Pothole damage from electric cars is double that of gas vehicles

Misc Energy:

Rural households switching to heat pump face 70% rise in bills

Manmade Global Warming — Some Deceptions:

*** Wrong Again: James Hansen 1988 Senate Testimony Edition

*** UN Chief claims fossil fuels are ‘incompatible with human survival’

*** New Book (Dr. Judith Curry): Climate Uncertainty and Risk

*** Epic Fail: Climate Models Greatly Overestimate Corn Belt Warming

*** Report: Climate Models and Climate Muddles

*** CLINTEL open letter (4) to UN Guterres on plans to stop climate change

North Atlantic Heatwave

Climate Changes Emerges as Single Biggest Issue Facing Jewelry Industry at Harvard Summit

France Shows Climate Change Politics are But an Obvious Scam

Myth of Big Oil’s Funding of Climate Skepticism vs Reality of Big Green’s Billions Driving Climate Alarmism

Manmade Global Warming — Misc:

*** Sweden Dumps Climate Agenda, Scraps Green Energy Targets

*** How to answer loaded climate questions

*** Can the Climate Heal Itself?

*** Al Gore’s Hypocrisy Knows No Bounds

Study: The Verdict of Instrumental Methods

Study: Empirical assessment of the role of the Sun in climate change using balanced multi-proxy solar records

Study: The Earth’s Decadal Rotation and Climate Dynamics

Climate Change Alarmism Is All Pain for No Gain – Enough!

Video: The Mad, Mad World of Climatism

Montana’s AG censored the science he needed to defeat Held v Montana

Nobel Laureate Dr. John Clauser: “I Don’t Believe There is a Climate Crisis”

Manmade Global Warming — Fires:

*** As usual, the media’s knee-jerk take on the Canadian wildfires was all wrong

*** Exposure to Smoke from Fires

Man charged with setting massive Yosemite park fire initially blamed on climate change

Suing Fossil Fuel Firms for Wildfires?

Ross McKitrick: The truth about forest fires goes up in climate-change smoke

US Election:

Election-Integrity.info (10 major election reports by our team of experts, plus much more!)

*** What Ranked-Choice Voting is really about

*** Error and Fraud at Issue as Absentee Voting Rises

How This Legal Group Plans To Halt Democrats’ Jihad Against Election Integrity Laws Ahead Of 2024

NC Court Corrects Flawed Ruling on Voter ID Law Driven by Ideology, Not Law

US Election — State Issues:

*** Supreme Court Fails to Uphold Constitutional Provision Protecting State Legislatures

In key decision, Supreme Court rules state lawmakers do not have exclusive control over elections

Veto-Proof NC Republicans Are Advancing Half-Baked Election Integrity Measures

Virginia Democratic County Supervisor Indicted on Dozens of Election Fraud Felonies, Embezzlement

GOP Lawmakers In Wisconsin Want To Make Elections Honest Again

1,400 Voters Flagged as Foreign Nationals in North Carolina

Whistleblower Transcripts Show Deep-State Election Rigging For Biden Was Way Bigger Than A Laptop

Misc US Politics:

*** America Loves Winning!

*** Flood at the Border Sinks Biden

*** Illegal Border Crossers So Far This Year Outnumber The Population of 8 States

*** RFK Jr.: Saying I’m anti-vaccine is ‘way of silencing me’

Bureaucrats Completely Incapable Of Making Reasonable Trade-Offs

The FBI Finally Admits The Shocking Truth About January 6

The Strange Idea That a Cabinet Officer Should Report to the President

House formally censures Rep Adam Schiff

Societally US:

*** China’s Saboteurs Are Coming to America

*** And They Wonder Why No One Trusts the Media Anymore

A Tax Case: Charles and Kathleen Moore v. United States

US Politics and Socialism:

*** Here’s How ESG Affects You, The Average American

*** Why Woke Businesses Sell Out Their Customers

*** Is the Tide Beginning to Turn? Reclaiming of our sanity around sex and gender

Universal Basic Income And The Anti-Human Agenda

Transhumanism: Elitists And Their Detractors

Globalism:

*** The World Economy is Becoming Unglued; Models Miss Real-World Behavior

*** Jordan Peterson & James Lindsay Just Exposed the Global Elite’s Agenda

*** Marxism, Religion & Everything In Between | Peterson & Lindsay

Great Reset: Macron Suggests International Tax System to Subsidize Green Agenda

World Health Organization Pushes Sweeping Censorship Treaty

How The WHO Plans To Increase Its Power, “Restrict Individual Liberties,” Curb “Disinformation”

Religion Related:

John Rosemond: And the Eyes of Both of Them Were Opened

Closer to God Through Prayer

Portland (OR) area Catholic schools are at a crossroads over transgender issues

UN Certified ‘Expert’: Religious Communities Must Yield to LGBT Demands

Science:

*** Science leadership has forgotten … science

*** Minding the Sciences — In Defense of Merit: Is it too late?

Time for another look at Einstein?

The Numbers Are In on How Biden-Era Funding Is Skewing Scientific Research Ever-Wokeward

Harvard professor who studies honesty accused of falsifying data in studies

NAS: Advancing Antiracism, DEI in STEMM Organizations

Politicized Scientists Can Be Hazardous To Your Health

Health:

*** RFK Jr.: Saying I’m anti-vaccine is ‘way of silencing me’

Report: Recycling & Micro-plastics: the Environmental Harms of the Circular Economy

Podcast: Why bother getting up in the morning?

U.S. House Floats Bill to Defund WHO, WEF and ‘Misinformation’ Programs

Artificial Intelligence:

*** Critically Thinking about Artificial Intelligence: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

*** Lawsuit: Open AI Stole ‘Massive Amounts of Personal Data’ to Train ChatGPT

NCAA athlete was scolded by AI over message about women’s sports

Google Bard Plagiarized Our Article, Then Apologized When Caught

Samsung bans employees from using ChatGPT and Google Bard — here’s why

Study: Causal reasoning about epidemiological associations in conversational AI

Ukraine:

*** Latest Developments in Ukraine: July 2nd

*** War is really good for business, Ukraine is good for business

*** The Darkness Ahead: Where The Ukraine War Is Headed

Is Nuclear War Inevitable?

Putin vows to defend Russia against armed rebellion led by mercenary chief

Pray for the safety of the Ukrainian people

A well-rated source to make a Ukraine donation

COVID-19 — Injections:

*** CDC confirms heart disease risk soars 13,200% among vaccinated

*** Study shows: Fully Vaxxed Lose 25 Years of Life Expectancy

*** Top Canadian politician apologizes to unvaccinated, “we were wrong…”

*** New emails show COVID vaccine mandates were based on a lie

Debunking the COVID Injection Narrative, Once And For All

Laid Low by the COVID Vaccine, Now They’ve Got a Bad Case of Federal Unresponsiveness

The COVID-19 Vaccines Could Never Prevent Transmission

COVID-19 — Misc:

Biden Is Breaking The Law By Not Publishing Covid Origins Intelligence

Dr David E. Martin – Covid Summit – European Union Parliament

COVID-19 — Repeated Important Information:

My webpage (C19Science.info) with dozens of Science-based COVID-19 reports

*** Study: Measuring the COVID Mandates

*** World Council of Health: Early COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines

*** FLCCC Long COVID Treatment Protocol

*** COVID-19: What You Need To Know (Physicians for Informed Consent)

*** If you have received a COVID-19 injection, here’s how to Detox

*** Place Your US Order for Free At-Home COVID-19 Tests

Please use social media, etc. to pass on this Newsletter to other open-minded citizens…If you’d like to be added to (or unsubscribe from) the distribution of our popular, free, worldwide Media Balance Newsletter, simply send me an email saying that.

Note 1: We recommend reading the Newsletter on your computer, not your phone, as some documents (e.g., PDFs) are much easier to read on a large computer screen… We’ve tried to use common fonts, etc. to minimize display issues.

Note 2: For past Newsletter issues see the archives from: 2020 & 2021 & 2022 & 2023. To accommodate numerous requests received about prior articles over all thirteen plus years of the Newsletter, we’ve put this together — where you can search ALL prior issues, by year. For a background about how the Newsletter is put together, etc., please read this.

Note 3: See this extensive list of reasonable books on climate change. As a parallel effort, we have also put together a list of some good books related to industrial wind energy. Both topics are also extensively covered on my website: WiseEnergy.org.

Note 4: I am not an attorney or a physician, so no material appearing in any of the Newsletters (or any of my websites) should be construed as giving legal or medical advice. My recommendation has always been: consult a competent, licensed attorney when you are involved with legal issues, and consult a competent physician regarding medical matters.

Copyright © 2023; Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions (see WiseEnergy.org).

U.S. Rep. Greg Steube Introduces House Resolution to Restore the United States Military’s Superior Warfighting Principles

/in , , , , , , , /by

WASHINGTON, D.C. —  U.S. Representative Greg Steube (R-Fla.) on Friday introduced a House Resolution to restore the United States military’s superior warfighting principles of recruiting, assigning, training, promoting, and retaining personnel solely based on merit. The resolution also credits the Florida State Senate for first passing the Florida Senate Memorial SM 1382, introduced by State Senator Jay Collins, to restore our military’s warfighting principles.

“The United States of America is known around the world to have superior warfighting principles, but under the Biden Administration, the Department of Defense has engaged in practices to erode those principles,” said Rep. Steube. “The U.S. military should be focused on unit effectiveness and mission accomplishment, yet primary determinents of how the military forces should be comprised now include overemphasizing gender, gender identity, race, and sexual preference. These decisions, and others, have led U.S. military dominance to be called into serious question. It’s time Congress recognizes that restoring a merit-based system in our military is the only way to ensure the safety and security of the American people.”

Last month, Rep. Steube  introduced The Eliminate DEI in the Military Act to prohibit federal funding from being used for any diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) activity in the armed forces, service academies, or at the Department of Defense.

Read the full resolution here.

©2023. U.S. Representative Greg Steube (R-Fla.). All rights reserved.

The Declaration of Independence: A Transcription

/in , , , , , /by

The following text is a transcription of the Stone Engraving of the parchment Declaration of Independence the document on display in the Rotunda at the National Archives Museum.

The spelling and punctuation reflects the original.

In Congress, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Georgia

Button Gwinnett

Lyman Hall

George Walton

North Carolina

William Hooper

Joseph Hewes

John Penn

South Carolina

Edward Rutledge

Thomas Heyward, Jr.

Thomas Lynch, Jr.

Arthur Middleton

Massachusetts

John Hancock

Maryland

Samuel Chase

William Paca

Thomas Stone

Charles Carroll of Carrollton

 

Virginia

George Wythe

Richard Henry Lee

Thomas Jefferson

Benjamin Harrison

Thomas Nelson, Jr.

Francis Lightfoot Lee

Carter Braxton

 

Pennsylvania

Robert Morris

Benjamin Rush

Benjamin Franklin

John Morton

George Clymer

James Smith

George Taylor

James Wilson

George Ross

Delaware

Caesar Rodney

George Read

Thomas McKean

 

New York

William Floyd

Philip Livingston

Francis Lewis

Lewis Morris

 

New Jersey

Richard Stockton

John Witherspoon

Francis Hopkinson

John Hart

Abraham Clark

 

New Hampshire

Josiah Bartlett

William Whipple

 

Massachusetts

Samuel Adams

John Adams

Robert Treat Paine

Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island

Stephen Hopkins

William Ellery

Connecticut

Roger Sherman

Samuel Huntington

William Williams

Oliver Wolcott

New Hampshire

Matthew Thornton

©2023. The National Archives. All rights reserved.

Patriots! Let’s Unite for a Stronger America!

/in , , , , , /by

Dear Patriot,

In these tumultuous times, it is essential to recognize the pivotal role that each of you plays in shaping the course of our nation. As Patriots, you are not mere spectators but active participants in the ever-evolving political climate surrounding us. I want to talk to you today to emphasize the importance of resilience, unity, and the need to navigate challenges without succumbing to anger and frustration.

As Patriots, our journey is not without obstacles. The road ahead may be riddled with challenges, testing our resolve and commitment to our shared values. However, it is during these moments that our strength shines the brightest. Remember that previous generations of Patriots faced trials and tribulations, yet they persevered, leaving behind a legacy that inspires us today. We must remain resolute and steadfast in our pursuit of progress, refusing to be disheartened by temporary setbacks or the magnitude of the tasks before us.

In the face of adversity, we must guard against the destructive forces of anger and frustration. While it is natural to feel these emotions when our values are challenged, or progress seems slow, we must not allow them to consume us or dictate our actions. Instead, let us channel these emotions into productive avenues and constructive dialogue. By doing so, we maintain the integrity of our convictions and contribute positively to the collective efforts of Patriots across our country.

One of our greatest strengths as Patriots lies in our numbers. With over 100 million MAGA individuals who share our dedication to the principles of liberty, justice, and the prosperity of America, we form a formidable force for positive change. The sheer magnitude of our collective presence is a testament to the enduring spirit of patriotism that runs deep within the fabric of our nation. Each Patriot adds their voice to the chorus of those seeking a better future for our country, and together, our combined efforts have the power to shape the course of America.

Unity is the bedrock upon which our strength rests. When we stand together, regardless of our backgrounds or political affiliations, we amplify our voices and mobilize our efforts. Through unity, we transcend divisions, foster understanding, and bridge seemingly impossible gaps. By embracing collective responsibility, we unlock the potential to accomplish great things for our nation.

The power of unity should not be underestimated. History bears witness to the remarkable achievements of united Patriots throughout the ages. From our nation’s founding to the civil rights movement and beyond, the collective determination of Patriots brought about transformative change. By harnessing the power of our unity, we can overcome any obstacle, challenge the status quo, and create a more inclusive, prosperous, and harmonious America.

In politics, it is disheartening to witness some politicians prioritizing their power and self-interests over the well-being of the people they are meant to serve. The allure of energy can be seductive, turning it into an aphrodisiac and a drug that blinds those who succumb to its influence. As Patriots, we must hold our elected officials accountable and demand that they prioritize the needs and aspirations of the American people above their ambitions.

Power has an intoxicating effect on those who wield it. It can cloud judgment, breed corruption, and lead to a detachment from the realities of everyday Americans. We have witnessed how some politicians become disconnected from the values and principles they promised to uphold once immersed in the corridors of power. This disconnection undermines the trust between the governed and their representatives, eroding the foundations of our democracy.

The United States Senate, often referred to as the most exclusive club in the history of the modern United States, presents a glaring example of the entrenchment of power. Some Senators have held their positions for decades, effectively creating a system where fresh perspectives and new voices struggle to emerge. This stagnation stifles progress and impedes the representation of the diverse interests and concerns of the American people. We must advocate for term limits to ensure a rotation of ideas and a more accountable system of governance.

Let us reflect upon the experience of Senator Ted Cruz, who entered the Senate determined to shake things up and challenge the status quo. However, his arrival was met with resistance from entrenched members of the “club” who were reluctant to embrace change. This resistance to new voices hampers innovation and stifles the will of the people who elected representatives to serve their interests.

Ted Cruz’s experience is not unique. Numerous Senators who dare to challenge the norms and bring fresh perspectives face hostility and pushback from those who have grown comfortable in their positions of power. This resistance stems from a fear of disruption and a desire to maintain the status quo.

However, we can precisely ensure a government serving the people’s interests by introducing new ideas and a rotation of representatives.

Term limits are essential to breathe new life into our political system. Limiting the number of terms an individual can serve enables fresh voices and ideas to emerge, fostering a more dynamic and responsive government. Term limits promote accountability, preventing the consolidation of power and encouraging representatives to remain connected to the needs and aspirations of their constituents. It is time to push for term limits and reshape the political landscape to reflect the will of the American people better.

Throughout history, the struggle for freedom has witnessed periodic setbacks and advances. Tyranny may occasionally gain ground, but free people have consistently risen to the challenge, willing to pay any price to safeguard the precious treasure of liberty. Our journey toward a perfect union is not without obstacles, but we have repeatedly proven that we possess the resilience and determination to overcome them.

As Patriots, we must renew our commitment to defending the principles enshrined in our Constitution. We stand on the shoulders of those who came before us, who risked their lives and fortunes to secure our freedom. Just as they faced adversity with unwavering determination, we must be prepared to meet any challenge and preserve the precious legacy of liberty for future generations.

Our Constitution serves as the bedrock of our nation, guaranteeing the fundamental rights and liberties that define us as a free people. Our duty as Patriots is to safeguard the integrity of this sacred document, ensuring its principles are upheld and protected. In a time of increasing polarization and threats to our democratic institutions, we must remain vigilant and resolute in defending the Constitution, for it is through its provisions that our freedom endures.

Dear Patriots, as we navigate the complex political landscape of our time, let us remain hopeful and engaged. We must continue to demand term limits for our elected officials, ensuring a system that welcomes fresh perspectives and remains accountable to the people’s will. We can shape a brighter future for America through unity, perseverance, and a steadfast commitment to our shared values.

In these challenging times, let us unite, transcending our differences and working toward a more inclusive, prosperous, and harmonious nation. We have the power to effect change, to build bridges, and to forge a path towards a better tomorrow.

With unwavering solidarity and a shared vision for a more vital America.

Sincerely,

Amil Imani

©2023. Amil Imani. All rights reserved.

The Dominoes are Lining Up

/in , , , , , , /by

When I was just a kid, back in the 40’s and early 50’s, before TV was a household name and radio was still the king of entertainment, with only music and voices coming from a box, we had to use our imaginations to “see” what was happening on the programs we listened to. One might think that experience limited our development, but it encouraged us to develop and use our imaginations.

Besides listening to great radio programs, such as “Burns and Allen”, “Jack Benny”, “The Shadow”, “Fibber McGee and Molly”, “The Inner Sanctum” and others, we had other games and pastimes to keep us busy in the evenings, especially when the programs on radio were not especially interesting. Dominoes was one of those fun games to play.

We started with a set of “double-six” dominoes and then advanced to the much more challenging “double-twelve” set, which certainly dates me since there are now domino sets that are “double-eighteen”, possibly even higher. In any case, our whole family would sit around a table and try to win the game; it was a lot of fun and calculating a specific score as a new domino was added to one of the lines actually helped in our learning of arithmetic.

But there were other fun times when my older brother and I would each take one of our double-twelve sets and stand each domino on end, curving and curling them around the table in beautiful snake-like patterns with each domino being close enough to its neighbor to hit it as the first domino was tapped. By turning one domino either to the right or the left, in our game, the “fall pattern” could be varied; even as today, one nation might lean right or left, it matters not and will not mean escape from the collapse.

With each of us having 91 dominoes to carefully place, it took a bit of time to get them all just right, but the care was extremely important since the end game was to try to make the most beautiful crash when the first domino was given a slight push.

We each had to push our first domino at exactly the same time to start the game.

We would watch as they fell, one by one, and hope they all reached the last domino at the exact same time. Of course, the end result was a table littered with 182 dominoes, all lying flat in a chaotic mess.

Dominoes on the World Table

Now, we are watching a scenario being set up, ready to be played out, on the world scene where each nation, kingdom or group is represented by an invisible domino standing precariously on end. Even though nations, at least most of them, are not close enough geographically to their neighbors to touch them, the idea of any one nation being able to avoid being struck by a falling domino somewhere is ludicrous since the entire World is now linked financially, culturally and in some cases, militarily. Though the response may not be “staccato” and/or instantaneous, when the falling begins, no domino will escape the carnage unscathed.

The Olivet Discourse

In the Olivet Discourse, recorded in Matthew 24:1 – Matthew 25:46, Jesus provides some very clear signs of what events to look for and expect when the World has entered the end-times.

Politically speaking, in chapter 24, verse 7, Jesus prophesies that “nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom”, and we certainly are seeing that right now and the results are catastrophic.

There are other major catastrophic events He mentioned in that same verse that are on the increase: “and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places”. The Lord called these “the beginning of sorrows”.

Many prophetic teachers call these events “the convergence” since they appear to be coming closer and closer together and in conjunction with the other signs, and will certainly accelerate as we get nearer the end.

So many of those events are now occurring in so many places around the globe, with some of them happening concurrently and others with gaps of days, weeks or even months, it is impossible to say that no dominoes have fallen; only God knows that and as the owner of the Earth and everything in it (Psalm 24:1) He and He alone would know when a specific event represents one of the dominoes that will precipitate the falling of all of them.

His intent with the Olivet Discourse was to let His disciples know what they should be looking for to avoid being caught off guard as the dominoes begin falling. Even so, in our time which is much closer to the end than was theirs, we need to be aware of the signs that Jesus spoke of and be ready for whatever is demanded of us as the disciples of Jesus.

The entire World is on a collision course with the most evil beings imaginable. Satan knows how short his time is and he is ramping up the evil he plans to use in his destruction of humanity. If we are to avoid that collision and be useful as faithful disciples until the return of Jesus, when He finally, finally will end all the madness and put an end to evil, we must be aware of the timing of certain events and endeavor to NOT miss them.

The First Domino

It is important to understand that God is the One “setting up the dominoes”, getting them ready for the roles they will play in the end-times scenario which will culminate in the Valley of Jehoshaphat in Israel when He will gather them there to plead with (judge) them (Joel 3:2). The name Jehoshaphat means “Jehovah is Judge” and all the nations of this World have an appointment for a face to face meeting with God, the righteous Judge where He will spell out the charges against them, pronounce sentence and then carry the sentence out to its conclusion. The end result of that judgment will resemble the collapsing and chaos left by a bunch of fallen dominoes, only it will be a bloodbath.

When God has determined which domino will be placed in a certain order, no man or group of men will be able to change that. It may sound to some as though God is indiscriminately placing some nations in positions that will spell certain destruction for them and their peoples, but it must be remembered that God is righteous, just and perfect in all His ways and since He knows all the sins of every person and every nation, He alone is worthy to judge them.

The first domino may well have already fallen and, with a potential gap in the timing until the successive ones begin to tip over, it becomes all too easy to relax and believe the worst is over, while the opposite is true. God’s word explains that when we see the arrival, the convergence, of the times spoken of by Jesus in Matthew 24, deception will increase along with persecution from many sources (2 Timothy 3:12-14).

The world political system we see being assembled right now is the same system that Antichrist will use to consolidate his power in his attempt to take control over every being on Earth; it is evil beyond imagination, but it is also made deceptively attractive to the people who have become mesmerized by the narratives of “peace, equity and inclusion”, not to mention the monetary rewards they are promised.

Those who are enamored of the evil system are already in danger of accepting the state of delusion spoken of in 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12, “And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness”.

End of the Game

Unlike the dominoes we used playing our childhood game, where the first domino is tipped and all the others follow in rapid succession, the dominoes representing the World’s nations do not necessarily follow suit.

Diligence and patience are required by all believers in determining just where we are on God’s timeline, but I can assure you that, even if the first domino has yet to fall, we are seeing the dominoes being lined up and made ready for that one event, that one “push” that will send them all crashing down.

What is that event? Has it already occurred? Both good questions for which I have no answer, but seeing what is unfolding is enough to let us know that it is close, if not already a matter of history.

Unlike the game I enjoyed so much as a child, we are NOT in a game now; this is reality and many are in danger of missing the main event promised to all believers in Jesus Christ: the glory of standing with Jesus and being declared the winners.

Maranatha and Blessings

©2023. Bud Hancock. All rights reserved.